Clan:Wilderness Guardians
"We are the Shield of the Innocent" =Introduction= thumb|left|400px The Wilderness Guardians, formerly known as the "PK PKs", is a clan founded by His Lordship in 2003. In the 6 years of it's existence, WG (or WildGuard) has become one of the most famous RuneScape clans for their revolutionary and impressive feats and accomplishments. WG has hosted four real-life meetings, have for sale a clan t-shirt, own the best website of any clan in any game online, and much more which has changed the face of RuneScape and it's clan world over the years. WildGuard Today As of June 2010, WG remains one of the oldest surviving clans active in RuneScape to date. His Lordship is recognised as the oldest clan leader serving a consecutive term in the rank. The clan's community is thriving, and the fifth Real Life meeting has been planned to take place around the date of the Jagex-organised RuneFest event. WG hosts at least two official PKing trips (Known as "raids") per week, and are still a strong force in the P2P PvP aspect of the game, constantly taking on forces such as the Jaja, Welfarers and Mlp Maku teams. The clan is known to be one of the last honour-based clans in the game, and are restrengthening their code of honour and ARPKing concept even despite the changes to the game's PvP system. =History= WildGuard was formed by His Lordship on December 6th, 2003, following his post on the Rune Village fansite's forums entitled "Read This If You Hate PKers". The clan, originally known as the "PK PKs" was based around the concept of Anti-Random Player Killing, or ARPKing. It received an incredible response from the community, with at least 30 members joining within 2 days of opening. Along with a name change to the Wilderness Guardians, they gained the support of The Sabres (One of only two surviving pre-RuneScape clans and the strongest ARPKing clan at the time) and joined the Federation - a syndicate of clans who shared principles of honour and ARPKing. Three recounts of WildGuard's history have been written and are constantly updated - a basic, a condensed and an extended version, all three of which appear on WG's official website. =Wars= In the six years it has existed, WG has hosted many clan wars, and taken on forces such as Damage Incorporated, Dark Slayers, Violent Resolution, Reign of Terror, and many more. WG's most famous and noteable wars are listed below. Wilderness Guardians vs Rune Outlaws vs Knights of Death thumb|left|300px WG's first war, held on November 27th, 2004. Previously, the Rune Outlaws had greatly insulted WG, and so WG declared war in a battle for pride. However, shortly before the battle, His Lordship unknowingly released war details to a member of the Knights of Death. KoD then thought WG was hosting a war against them, and prepared to fight on the same day. WG, led by His Lordship, made their way up to the Demonic Ruins and charged from the west, but found only looters and spies. With RO nowhere in sight, the WG members lowered their guard. Only seconds later, Knights of Death entered from the south-east and rushed the unprepared WildGuard. It is unclear when RO became involved. An intense three-way fight ensured, and the battle spread halfway across the Wilderness. All sides suffered heavy casualties, and no final victor was decided. Very little was known about the WG vs RO vs KoD war except for the clan's history's account. On November 2nd, 2009, surviving footage of the war (Recorded by Wildflame110 of WG) was edited and released as a video entitled WG - First Blood (Left) to YouTube. The video shows WG walking to the Demonic Ruins and the start of the fight; however, the footage ends only a few minutes after the fight began, as Wildflame accidentaly backspace-logged out. Another WG member, Maxrobinsun, is noted to have said that he also was recording the war in PMs seen in screenshots, although what happened to this recording of the war is currently unknown. Wilderness Guardians vs Dead on Arrival thumb|right|300px Hosted on July 9th, 2005, the Wilderness Guardians vs Dead on Arrival (Two of the top clans at the time) war and video have become famous throughout the clan world. Noted for it's methods and tactics, it was the first P2P war to incorporate the use of Ancient Magics (A standard almost always used in P2P PvP today). WildGuard was the projected victor, with a turnout of around 120 members (~360 "opts" or Options), while DoA pulled around 100 members (300 opts). WG was the attacking clan, and the fight took place at the Demonic Ruins (Also known as the Greater Demons or shortened to "Gdz"). Within 30 seconds of the start of the battle, over 3,500 damage was struck. The war itself, unfortunately, was crashed by the clan Followers of Malkov (About 10 minutes after the death of the cameraman, with many WG and DoA still fighting), and the victor was unresolved. The WG vs DoA was WG's first P2P war, and His Lordship says that it was the best war he has ever attended in over 5 years of wars. The RuneScape fansite Zybez (RuneScape Community) continuously votes the video of the war (Right) as the most enjoyable clan video to watch, and it has been described as having obtained "classic" status in WG and the clan world of RuneScape. WG vs DoA began WG's domination of P2P PvP for the following year. It is also noteable that this was the first time WG's massing location was at Juliet's house in Varrock. This has become a historical location for the clan, and many more of the important wars in WildGuard's history have been massed for here. X vs Dark Slayers + FA thumb|300px|left| The war, known as "X vs DS" was hosted on July 23rd, 2006. Group "X" was composed of the Wilderness Guardians, their junior clan Descendant Guardians, Chivalry Legions, Rune Raiders, and RR Juniors. A source from 2008 suggests that WG/DG and RR/RR Juniors had ~200 members present each, while CL had ~170, totalling around the 570-member mark. X had multiple fall-ins. His Lordship's fall-in had 372 opts as is shown from the video prior to the start of the war. A click on DS's fall-in showed they had at least 110 members, although someone is noted to have said "Omg ds have 600 opts", so it is likely that there were more. The deathmarch of X starts at Juliet's house in Varrock, and follows the course of through the Barbarian Village to the Monastery (To recharge prayer and gain the +1 bonus), then into the wild, and ends at the Demonic Ruins. With an estimated 500+ people involved, it is the single largest deathmarch in RuneScape history. The battle itself started at the typical war location - the large, open area of flat land west of the Demonic Ruins and south of the Members' Gate. His Lordship was one of the first piles, and was KOed instantly, with time only to say "Go". Despite DS being drastically outnumbered, X lost the war, as the vast majority of the clan fell victim to KOs from DS's incredible organization and skill. The video was filmed by Jrm_04 of X, and uploaded to YouTube on February 3rd, 2007. Despite it containing legendary and historical footage from one of the greatest wars in RuneScape, it has gained only around 400 views. Wilderness Guardians vs The British Crusaders Also known as "The Great War", one of the most important wars in WG's history. After events which happened in 2008/2009, WG had begun to lose the strength and effort to progress forwards. On January 23rd, His Lordship addressed the issues and WG's plans for the future in a video known as the Great Announcement. The video, which included an address from Council/Warlord Stokenut, also outlined an upcoming war against Dragonwood on the 31st. With only a week's preparation given, it was intense. His Lordship followed up the announcement with three war-prep videos and a Flash banner, although he himself could not attend (Due to the real-life meeting #3 taking place). Only hours before the war, Dragonwood pulled out, so WG declared on The British Crusaders for the same day and time. WG massed 47 members at Juliet's house in Varrock (An amazing turnout for only a 1-week prep - something WG could not have achieved 6 months previously), each with over 2,000,000 coins worth of gear. Several WG members even changed their RuneScape names for the war (To variations of "WE GOT TEA", a WG reference joke). Despite the incredible amount of work and effort put in by everyone, TBC outpulled with 54 and won the war. However, a large amount of respect from the clan community was paid to both clans, and the war is considered by WG as a morale victory. =Outside the Game= One of the other renowned aspects of WG is the fact that they constantly take the clan further than the game itself. The clan has hosted four real life meetings, manufactured a t-shirt, and much more which emphasizes the incredibly powerful community aspect. Website The Wilderness Guardians website was designed in Flash by His Lordship, and is constantly updated. For several years, it has been repeatedly voted the best clan website out of all RuneScape clans, the most recent being in the RuneScape Community/Zybez official 2009 Clan Awards, which were announced on January 2nd, 2010. In the 2008 RSC awards, WG had 115 votes for Best Clan Website, while Adelais - the runner-up - had only 9 votes. In the 2009 awards, the runner-up was Damage Incorporated (now deceased), although vote counts were not released. The website itself contains an incredible amount of information, ranging from three versions of the clan's history to full galleries of WildGuard screenshots and videos over the years. Even the soundtracks played on the website are available for download. As of June 2010, His Lordship is in the process of implicating a major update to the site, including a newly-created Flash video gallery, and completley re-worked image galleries. T-shirt Another noteable fact about the Wilderness Guardians is that they were the first clan to have manufactured and distributed an item of clothing in real life. The WG t-shirt is made of 100% Australian cotton, and different sizes and genders are available. Unlike other items of clothing such as Jagex's RuneScape merchandise, it features a fashion-smart design, and is wearable in public without fear of judgement. It is available to clan members for a non-profit price, and sold otherwise to anyone at a cost of $30.50, the excess of which is put towards funding for WG's server. The official page for the shirt on the WG website can be found HERE Shortly after the clan's second Real Life meeting in Paris, His Lordship returned to full leadership of WG. On August 22nd, 2008, following a suggestion from a WG member, His Lordship posted a topic in the Important Announcements forum discussing possible merchandise such as coffee mugs, and rough designs for clothing - including a t-shirt. The original colour was grey (White was considered at one point), and the design was slightly different to the present render. The shirt became a reality on August 23rd, but modifications and changes were made several weeks following. Despite the controversy of the move at the time, over 40 shirts were sold within a month of release, and dozens more over the following months. Flash Movies Real Life Meetings London, England The first Real Life meeting took place on January 12th, 2008, and had 7 WG members present: Jaxx456, Holykier, Snowzak, Stokenut, His Lordship, Cameronm123, Groedius. Two of Jaxx's friends also attended, making a total of 9. The group organised at Admiral Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square. Three main events took place - RuneScape pranks, finding Jagex HQ and getting stoned. RuneScape pranks involved the clan doing game emotes and the home teleport. Members were also given party hats, and attempted to sell them. They then found Jagex's London headquaters, and entered the offices (which were closed on the Saturday, so the entrance was illegal). In the evening, Snowzak attempted to obtain drugs for the clan's use, but accidentally purchased tea (Thus starting the common WG saying "Got tea?"). After unsuccessfully attempting to smoke the tea, real substance was obtained. The members proceeded to a Burger King restaurant, where Stokenut was escorted off the premises, became ill upon a reaction to the drugs and vodka, and had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance. A video of the Real Life meeting was made by His Lordship and released on February 24th. Due to the YouTube restriction of a 100MB file size at the time, a lot of the footage had been cut out. The video became incredibly popular in the clan world, although Jagex eventually requested His Lordship to remove the video, due to it encouraging other players to meet up unsafely in real life. The video has since been removed as per this request. Paris, France The second Real Life meeting in Paris was hosted in early August 2008 (Either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th, according to His Lordship). He had organised the meeting as part of his personal holiday to the Bayreuth festival in Germany. There were four attendees: His Lordship, Snowzak, Dhboy123 (Of the clan Divine Forces) and Bassism. Bassism is noted as the only member with direct relations to WG (His Lordship was Primary Leader and Snowzak was Council), but it is still classed as a WG meeting. The group played some pranks on the RuneScape community, and then spent the rest of the night pub-crawling. It was confirmed that video footage from the meeting did exist, although no official video was produced for the event. Washington DC, USA The third Real Life meeting was during a visit by His Lordship across the USA in late 2009 to early 2010. Two meetings were originally planned - one for the West Coast (San Fransisco on November 21st) and one for the East Coast (Washington DC on December 19th). However, due to lack of interest, the West Coast meeting was cancelled. Three members attended the East Coast meeting: His Lordship, Quikdrawjoe and Mmangler. The projected meeting point was at the Washington Monument. Due to heavy snowfall in Washington, there was very little worthy of mentioning which took place at the meeting. However, all 3 of the members did attend the WG war taking place at the time. Fighting against Gladz, the P2P war resulted in a defeat for WG. In a response to the clan, the three attendees posted a "triple facepalm" picture of themselves as a topic in the Important Announcements forum. During the time of the war, the only known video footage of the meeting itself was shot. This footage has yet to be released, if it is still available. After the meeting, His Lordship continued on his holiday across America to locations such as New York City, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Due to the clan's anniversary being post-poned to later into 2010, (Normally hosted at the end of the year), he organised a "birthday present" for the clan. This was announced on January 8th, 2010 (Right). After buying a product from the retailer Nivea, the picture of His Lordship with the caption "WILDERNESS GUARDIANS", subcaptioned "-HIS LORDSHIP, FALADOR", was displayed on an electronic billboard for a considerable amount of time to thousands of people in Times Square, New York. A RuneScape Community/Zybez topic posted by His Lordship concerning the clan's 6th birthday and the meeting gained 12 pages of responses. Despite accusations of the image being fake, overall the feat obtained an overall positive reception. Singapore, Singapore The fourth Real Life meeting held by WildGuard was not as well publicized as the previous three, so very little is known about it. It was held on February 13th (The day before Chinese New Year) in Singapore, Singapore. This was directly after the third Real Life meeting in the USA, as part of His Lordship's holiday to Singapore and Malaysia. There were three attendees: His Lordship, Karlfischer and Valdremia (Ex-members, but who spent a considerable amount of time in WG). London, England (RuneFest) The fifth Real Life meeting is currently being organised around the Jagex-hosted RuneFest on the 28th of August, 2010. WG members are encouraged to focus on attending RuneFest itself on the Saturday. Details of the clan-only events have not yet been released to the public. His Lordship has said that he is hoping to exceed the turnout of the 2008 London meeting (7 WildGuard and 2 friends), and is looking for a minimum of 10 people. On April 30th, he spoke to Mod Timbo about organising clan-related activities. The main suggestion was to give each clan a desk and a power socket, and allow them to decorate it as best as they could to portray the clan. Around early May 2010, His Lordship organised a spur-of-the-moment event when he collected his Flagstaff of Festivities: an in-game item which is accessable only by members who have purchased a RuneFest ticket. Four WG members attended, and the event was recorded and uploaded by Council/Warlord Stokenut (Screen cap left). It has gained over 3,000 views on YouTube. Australia His Lordship has confirmed that the sixth Real Life meeting will be held in Australia, at the end of 2010. =Recognition by Jagex= In the Clan Submissions Page of April 30th, 2010, Jagex's Mod Mat K specified Wilderness Guardians and THE clan as two clans which he found especially unique. WildGuard was recognised mainly for His Lordship's contribution to the clan community (The section of the interview is pictured left). The Wilderness Guardians were also recignised as one of the oldest surviving clans in the game, alongside Noobs Inc and Dark Slayers (The latter of which is now deceased) in the same article. The recognition by Jagex of six years of dedication and effort resulted in His Lordship attempting to masturbate to the comment, although he ultimately failed to reach an orgasm. The quotation was incorporated into a banner which is displayed occasionally on the WildGuard forums.